2fi Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the 



prevalent among them. Here we have learned that the inter- 

 ests of the farmer and factorymen are one and they can not be 

 separated if we would attain to the greatest degree of success. 

 The farmer needs educating along the line of factory work and 

 the factoryman along the line of agricultural work, that each 

 may see the work of the other from his own point of view. 



To aid us in obtaining this education we have our Associa- 

 tion, our Institute meetings, our Granges,, the bulletins issued by 

 our State and government and many books and papers, but witli 

 all this there seems to be a lack of systematic training and the 

 thought has occurred to me, why not sometime, perhaps in the 

 near future, organize a School of Correspondence or Farmers' 

 Reading Course in connection with our Agricultural College. 

 Such schools have already been successfully established in some 

 of our sister states. Seemingly such a course would enable us to 

 accomplish more in a given time and add to our interest in the 

 work because we would feel that others were working with us. 



Our agricultural fairs, when properly conducted, are edu- 

 cators. There, the people can bring into friendly competition the 

 best of their herds and dairy products, can learn wherein they 

 have failed or succeeded. A well conducted animal and dairy 

 exhibit will not only provide instruction for the spectator but the 

 lessons taught the exhibitor are almost equally important. Often, 

 at large fairs,, we come in contact with those who control the 

 markets and an interchange of ideas is made possible, thus we 

 obtain a better vmderstanding of the market and its requirements. 

 For instance, at Valley Fair, Brattleboro, one's herds and dairy 

 products came in competition not only with those from Vermont, 

 but from all New England as well, and men, expert in their 

 line of business, judge of the qualities of the same. 



Even if our products fall below those of someone else we 

 can find profit from the ideas presented to us ; we can gain in- 

 spiration and enthusiasm to better our herds and their products, 

 thus, we will find our time and money well invested. Try it ! 



Nineteen hundred and four in some respects has been a little 

 discouraging and considerable dissatisfaction has been felt or 

 noted by all of us. At the beginning of the year the dairy market 

 became unsettled and continued low and unsatisfactory generally, 

 until about August. One of the primary causes of this seems 

 to have been the passage of the Oleo or Grout bill. Unless you 

 may think that T am not in favor of that bill let me say right 

 here that I am ; it has already been of great value to the dairy- 

 man,, putting many thousands of dollars in his pocket, but after 

 the passage of that bill as the price of dairy products advanced . 

 many increased their herds and of coin^se new dairymen appeared 

 with the result of an unusually large production of butter during 



